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hoosier 
Group: Members
Posts: 1476
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Aug. 31 2003,9:26 am |
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Help Stop a $21 Billion Corporate Welfare Handout!
Please click here today to send a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert demanding that he put a stop to a $21 billion federal handout to Boeing, one of this country’s largest, most successful companies.
In the wake of 9/11, Boeing lobbyists, along with congressmen and senators from the states and districts where the company has facilities - including Speaker Hastert whose home state, Illinois, houses Boeing’s corporate headquarters - came up with a “creative” way to bolster the company’s sagging profits.
They slipped a provision into an appropriations bill instructing the Air Force to lease 100 Boeing 767s under the guise of replacing an “aging” fleet of mid-air refueling tankers. The Air Force had never requested the tankers, and there was never a needs assessment or formal competitive bid process.
Under the terms of the deal, taxpayers will pay roughly $17 billion to lease the Boeing 767s and convert them into refueling tankers. At the end of the 10-year lease, the Air Force will have to return the planes to Boeing, or else pay an additional $4 billion to purchase them.
Both the General Accounting Office (GAO) and the Congressional Budget Office have testified that the proposed Boeing lease deal is more costly than either directly purchasing new tanker aircrafts or some of its employees “behaved unethically.” upgrading the Air Force’s existing KC-135E tanker fleet. In particular, the GAO has estimated it would cost $3.2 billion to upgrade 127 KC-135E tankers. That’s a savings to taxpayers of $17.8 billion over the Boeing deal.
What’s more, Boeing is under investigation by the Department of Justice for alleged misconduct in its government contracting practices, and on July 24, the Air Force withdrew $1 billion worth of satellite-launching contracts from the company and suspended three Boeing rocket units from contracts for 60-90 days for using a competitor’s proprietary documents when developing its design for a satellite-launching contract bid. In a recent confessional advertisement in major newspapers, Boeing as much as admitted to wrongdoing, stating that some of its employees “behaved unethically.”
Click here to tell Speaker Hastert that with the nation facing a $455 billion deficit and legitimate defense needs, taxpayers cannot afford a $21 billion handout to Boeing!
FAQ | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
© CITIZENS AGAINST GOVERNMENT WASTE
1301 CONNECTICUT AVENUE, NW, SUITE 400, WASHINGTON, DC 20036
202-467-5300
O, yes, this is the same government that some politicians come in here and try to say is working for us. Like I said, take your lies somewhere else, this is Albert Leas no spin zone. Seems to be a lot of spinning going on here in the last few days.
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The power of accurate obsvervation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw
The devil begins with froth on the lips of an angel entering into battle for a holy and just cause. Grigory Pomerants
We have crossed the boundary that lies between Republic and Empire. Garet Garrett
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cwolff
Group: Members
Posts: 265
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Aug. 31 2003,10:57 am |
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Letter to Congress Opposing Boeing Lease Deal
322 4th St. NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 543-4100
clw@clw.org
Press Release - For Immediate Release - June 4, 2003
For more information contact Chris Hellman - 202-546-4100
An unusual left-right coalition sent a joint letter to Congress opposing a sweetheart deal to lease rather than purchase twenty tanker aircraft from Boeing. Leasing rather than buring tankers would cost the U.S. $20 billion.
The Honorable Duncan Hunter
Chairman, House Armed Services Committee
2265 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Ike Skelton Ranking
Member, House Armed Services Committee
2206 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable C.W. Bill Young
Chairman, House Appropriations Committee
2407 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable David Obey
Ranking Member, House Appropriations Committee
2314 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Jerry Lewis
Chairman, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
2112 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable John Murtha
Ranking Member, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
2423 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressmen:
We are writing to express our concern over the recent Department of Defense approval to lease 100 Boeing 767 *tanker refueling* aircraft in a contract that could cost American taxpayers more than $20 billion. As numerous independent assessments have confirmed, the proposed financing scheme appears to be a profligate waste of taxpayer dollars. In light of the fact that Boeing is currently under criminal and civil investigations by the United States Department of Justice for possible misconduct involving government contracts, such an apparent sweetheart deal seems particularly troublesome.
In our view, Congress should -- at a minimum -- delay the required additional authorization for this program until questions are resolved relating to this contract and Boeing*s conduct on a range of issues.
By most estimates, including the General Accounting Office, the tanker-refueling leasing arrangement will cost taxpayers billions more than if the government simply modernized existing KC-135E tankers. In fact, the Office of Management and Budget reports the current tanker fleet is in good shape, and the Air Force has said that there is no need to start replacing the KC-135Es before 2012. Even more troubling is the fact that this apparent sweetheart deal was awarded on a sole-source, non-competitive basis, reinforcing an increasingly widespread perception of, at best, excessive and unnecessary waste.
Such paydirt in the award of a sole-source contract for a system that the Air force apparently doesn*t need, and to a company under criminal and civil investigations for misconduct, is not what our Defense Department should be doing at this time of heightened national security needs and constrained domestic budgets.
Indeed, Boeing*s integrity in the context of government contracts has been the source of ever heightening criticism by many non-partisan sources. According to a January 30th, 2003 GAO report, a Boeing division was found in possession of proprietary documents of its competitor Raytheon. As the documents related to a missile defense contract for which both companies were in competition, Boeing*s possession of them raised widespread suspicion of corporate espionage. This was particularly alarming as Boeing is the *lead system integrator* on the missile defense program, a quasi-governmental role which requires unquestioned ethical conduct because such integrators can easily gain illicit access to proprietary documents of competitors.
It is important to note that Boeing could be disbarred from all government contracts due to the criminal inquiry underway. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Boeing sought to gain competitive advantage over Lockheed Martin * its only rival for a $1.88 billion defense contract to build rockets for launching spy and communications satellites * by obtaining key documents from a former Lockheed employee *under the table.* These events have led to a criminal investigation.
At a minimum, Congress should defer the required additional authorization for the gold-plated tanker lease deal until two things occur: 1) a complete investigation is conducted as to whether such a lavish solution to in-flight refueling is needed, and 2) the Justice Department*s criminal investigation of Boeing*s questionable contracting practices is concluded.
These modest first steps will help reassure the public of a strong, bipartisan commitment to fight government waste and corporate fraud. It is also our hope that, in light of these facts, Congress and the administration will take the opportunity to give careful review to other multi-billion dollar commitments * such as the Army*s Future Combat Systems (FCS) -- that puts Boeing back into the position of a *lead systems integrator* with authority to review the proprietary documents of competitors, and thereby invite repetition of past bad acts at the expense of taxpayer dollars and national security.
These kinds of awards to a company under criminal and civil investigations leads to a perception that the left hand of the government does not know what the right hand of the government is doing. At a minimum, decisions on such matters should be put into abeyance pending the resolution of some of these fundamental questions.
Sincerely,
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Public Citizen
National Taxpayers Union
Council for Livable World
National Legal and Policy Center
Project on Government Oversight
Citizens Against Government Waste
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